Minister to Vietnam Vet: ‘I just put you on the automatic delete list my friend’
A Vietnam veteran has expressed his shock at the ‘rude’ response he received from Government Services Minister Stuart Robert after raising concerns about the NDIS. PLUS: What’s next for former police minister Troy Grant?
NSW
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Stuart Robert, the federal minister for government services, has refused to apologise for sending a series of terse emails to a 67-year-old war veteran who raised concerns about the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
In an email exchange on Tuesday, Mr Robert fired off two missives from his parliamentary account accusing the pensioner of getting his facts wrong, and threatening to automatically delete any future emails.
The unusual response was triggered by an email from Vietnam veteran Lindsay Lake, who emailed the minister saying he was annoyed by the multibillion-dollar underspend on disability services and urging him to “take charge of your useless department”.
“Underspend means that the high level of red tape paperwork required has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people missing out on NDIS assistance,” Mr Lake claimed.
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Instead of calmly justifying the government’s position, the Queensland MP fired off an email telling the grandfather-of-nine his accusations were “a load of rubbish”. “Get your facts right if you want to be taken seriously,” Mr Robert wrote.
Mr Lake responded with two cases he had read about where people with disabilities hadn’t received adequate funding. “You know all of these cases but ignore them,’’ Mr Lake wrote.
In response, Mr Robert said he would ignore all future correspondence from the pensioner.
“I just put you on the automatic delete list my friend,” he wrote.
Mr Lake told The Sauce he was “shocked” by the response.
He said he had written to more than 30 state and federal ministers in the past 12 months, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and had never received such a “blatantly rude” response.
“I write to every Tom, Dick and Harry and give them my two bobs’ worth about what’s going on,” Mr Lake said.
“This is the first response I have received where the minister wasn’t even willing to listen.”
A spokesman for Mr Robert said the minister had “no tolerance for abusive behaviour”.
“The minister will call out inappropriate behaviour such as name calling, particularly when received from the same person over a number of emails,” the spokesman said.
LINE UP, LINE UP
The next federal election may be three years away, but the jostling to become the next Liberal candidate for Warringah is well under way.
Local sources say NSW Liberal State Council officer Alex Dore is “desperate to run” but will have to bat away the competition.
Other names doing the rounds include former member Tony Abbott’s speechwriter Paul Ritchie and Sasha Grebe, who sources say held a “meet the locals” function in Mosman last month, with former senator Arthur Sinodinos guest speaker at the event.
Senior moderate Natalie Ward, regular candidate Tim James and barrister Jane Buncle are other names that have been mentioned as prospective candidates, as well as former premier Mike Baird.
So determined is the troubled conference in winning back the blue-ribbon seat that it is understood Senator Andrew Bragg is considering opening up an office in Mosman.
GRANT ME THIS
He’s been a police minister, Nationals leader and the deputy premier. But The Sauce can now confirm Troy Grant has been interviewed for the role of independent chair of the International Rugby League Federation.
Grant, who retired from state parliament at the last state election, was interviewed by a panel a few weeks ago in Auckland.
It is understood it was Grant’s first formal job interview since the 1980s, when he joined the NSW Police Force.
DRIVER FATIGUE
The drivers chauffeuring Berejiklian government ministers and Labor leader Jodi McKay around town are used to clocking up overtime — in fact, they rely on it to bolster their salaries. But The Sauce understands the hours some drivers are being asked to work has become a health and safety issue.
A union delegate said a shift lasting 16 hours was not uncommon.
With the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet conducting a staffing review, the drivers will be hoping for a better deal.
Given the secrets the ever-discrete drivers would collectively hold, it would be foolish not to resolve things quickly.
YOUNG LABOR
Federal Labor MP Lisa Chesters had a good reason to miss the final sitting week of the year, the arrival of her daughter.
Chesters, 39, and partner Matt Emond welcomed baby Daisy Jane on December 3 at 4.59am.
Baby Daisy is the first child for the Bendigo MP and Matt, a former Labor staffer who is currently serving on the local council.
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